Vodafone Junior Warriors hang on

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The Canberra Raiders have fallen short of a miracle comeback as they went down to the Warriors 40-34 at GIO Stadium.

The Warriors had a 40-16 lead early in the second half before the Raiders seized momentum of the match to get within six points of their opponent.

The Raiders piled pressure on the Warriors early, and after earning two repeat sets, Jordan Martin ran a good line to score the opening try in the seventh minute.

Harley Smith-Shields double the score for the Raiders shortly afterwards as the Green Machine continued to dominate field position.

The Warriors registered their first try of the afternoon when Tom Ale latched onto a grubber to score under the posts. Parity was restored on the first set from the kick-off as Phillip Makatoa went through under the posts.

The New Zealand outfit continued to threaten the Raiders, and five-eighth Paul Turner gave his side the lead as he stepped his way through the line before beating Jackson Stuart to score.

Jyris Glamuzina added another try to the scoreboard for the Warriors before Kayal Iro made the score 28-12 at halftime.

The Raiders started the second half brightly, and after coming close on two occasions, Joe Roberts showed plenty of strength to slam the ball down over the line.

Harley Maynard scored out wide, and Tom Ale scored his second as the Warriors continued their try-scoring ways.

Harley Smith-Shields added his second try of the day as the Raiders kept fighting. Darby Medlyn powered his way over the line after the Raiders had good field position after back to back penalties.

The Raiders continued to surge home and reduced the deficit to six points when Daine Spencer scored off the back of some good work by Kyle Paterson.